Okay . . . here’s hoping that the third time’s the charm.

I knitted eight of the border rows for my Union Square Market Pullover, and thought it would be smart to just double-check the gauge before I completed the hem and switched over to the main color. So I knit half of the next row onto a second needle (so as to be able to stretch the stitches out) and . . . well. Turns out this was very smart. This is still huge. Not quite as huge as before, but still big!

How big, you ask?

42″, give or take a fraction.

Now, according to my gauge swatch of 5.25 stitches per inch, this should have been 38″. But no. Apparently I’m getting 4.8 stitches to the inch.

And this is Fingering weight yarn (Rowan 4-ply Cashsoft), with an estimated gauge of 28 stitches over 4″ (10 cm) on US size 3 (3.25 mm) needles.

I’m getting 19 stitches over the same width using US size 2 (3 mm) needles. How ridiculous is that?

Apparently, at this gauge, I’ll need 182 stitches to get the right size. (I say “apparently” not because I doubt my math skills over such basic math, but because this is my third attempt–it’s not the math, it’s the fact that my gauge keeps changing!)

Now, I figure I have two choices. (Well, technically, three, but giving up on the sweater is not one I will allow myself to consider. I am hosting the knit-along, after all.) I can either (1) go with 182 stitches and recalculate every number in the entire pattern as I go. Or, option 2, I can pull out the lace-weight Misti Alpaca I bought and make a gauge swatch out of that and see what I get! (I thought it would be too fine and was kicking myself for buying it, but maybe it wasn’t such a crazy idea after all.)

The plus side for the first option is that at so few (relatively. few) stitches, the knitting will go faster. For this size sweater, the original pattern calls for 250 stitches–I’d have almost 70 less per row. That’s a bonus, right? And the yarn knits up very nicely–very soft and comfy–I’d like to try to see it through with this. And doesn’t it seem crazy to make a sweater out of a lace-weight yarn? (I mean, you do what you’ve got to do, but some things seem more reasonable than others.)

I’ll mull this over . . . I think I need to start another lace project, pronto. At least gauge isn’t as important, there! Lace is beautiful, and easy, and generally good for morale.

In other news, my friend Cindy (last I heard) is at the hospital with her brother, because her sister-in-law went into labor this morning. In fact, she called me at work this morning–she wanted to bring her sock with her, but needed a quick refresher on how to do the short-row heel. I did tell her over the phone (with the reminder that it’s exactly the same as the toe she started with), but she was so giddy with new-Aunt excitement, I don’t know how much sunk in (grin). I hope everything’s going well!

We also had a quick visit tonight from my sister’s brother-in-law. He’s getting married next month and his bride wanted to borrow some old photos of him and Mike, growing up, but getting to my sister’s house in Pennsylvania was going to be tricky. He works not too far away, though, so my sister brought them here, for him to pick up. But the funny part is that, in the almost 17 years that his brother has been married to my sister, he’s never once been to our house. He’s been invited, and when he worked even closer, he had a standing invite if there was ever a particularly bad snowstorm. He even literally comes within a mile of our house on his way home (sometimes, depending on the route he takes) . . . and yet, this was the first time he’s been here. Obviously, this has to change. Especially now that his and Mike’s parents have moved to Delaware, Mom and I think that, one of these weekends (after September, anyway), we’ll have to invite him and Betty over, on some weekend Patty and her family are here. It would be nice!

And, good gracious heavens . . . poor London. Not again! (Not that I’m deliberately burying this at the end of my post, like it’s old hat, old news. Just . . . I can’t believe it. I’m just grateful that there apparently weren’t any fatalities this time. Thank you, God.)

One more thing. Head over to the birthday girl’s blog tomorrow (Friday) and wish her many happy returns. I’ll be catching up to her in November!

Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning // 6 Comments »